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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Venus and Jupiter: Conjunction from Avebury
NASA ^ | 12 Jun, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: Josh Dury

Posted on 06/12/2026 1:14:58 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: To see Venus and Jupiter together this month, you won't need binoculars or even a telescope. Just look up after sunset and you'll find them emerging as the sky grows dark near the western horizon. In fact, on June 9 the two brightest planets were in close conjunction, separated on the sky by less than 2 degrees from our perspective. Since (brighter) inner planet Venus orbits the Sun faster than outer planet Jupiter, it catches up with and passes the outer planet along the ecliptic roughly every 13 months. But every three years or so their resulting conjunction can be viewed far enough from the Sun to be easily seen in Earth's twilight skies. On June 9, the two celestial beacon's close "cosmic kiss" was captured here next to two remaining standing stones at the cove within a 4,000 year old stone circle at Avebury, UK. Larger than Stonehenge, the Avebury henge and stone circle complex is also recognized as one of the most significant neolithic ceremonial sites on planet Earth.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; avebury; jupiter; nasa; venus
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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

1 posted on 06/12/2026 1:14:58 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 06/12/2026 1:15:20 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; ...
Pinging the APOD list

πŸͺ 🌟 🌌 πŸ”

3 posted on 06/12/2026 1:16:05 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

That’s a fabulous photo.


4 posted on 06/12/2026 1:21:11 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: MtnClimber

Psalm 19.1 comes to mind.

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Psalms-19-1/


5 posted on 06/12/2026 1:51:38 PM PDT by AFB-XYZ (( We have two options: 1. Stand up, or 2. Bend over))
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To: MtnClimber

Beautiful.


6 posted on 06/12/2026 2:14:26 PM PDT by NavyShoe
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To: AFB-XYZ

Indeed. I did manage to see it Wed. night. It was beautiful in the evening twilight. Twilight is such a peaceful time, such a beautiful time of night.


7 posted on 06/12/2026 2:34:36 PM PDT by telescope115 (Ad Astra, Ad Deum…)
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To: MtnClimber

This is such a simple picture. This is such a PROFOUND photograph!

Two rock monoliths seem to be sharing a moment together as they watch the assent of the planet named for the Goddess of Love while the largest planet in our solar system seems to be following her like a love-sick puppy dog!

THIS photograph depicts a timeless LOVE story.

Sir, you are a GENIUS!


8 posted on 06/12/2026 2:40:21 PM PDT by Spaceman49
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To: Spaceman49

You can see Mercury just below the to the right. It’s much dimmer and sets faster. Directly above Mercury are the stars: Castor and Pollux of Gemini.


9 posted on 06/12/2026 3:04:53 PM PDT by Theophilus (I'm all out of attention to this matter...)
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To: MtnClimber

Beautiful pic! Was to Avebury Circle back in 2001 and it was absolutely awesome. The tour guide gave us devining rods to walk through the stones, there is a magnetic field and the rods did turn. A wonderful memory. As for the the planetary display, got to see that line up a few years ago here in FL. The local environmental tech school has a dock that goes out over the water, no abient lights. They had telescopes set up but I brought my own, teeheehee, quite a few people were there. Yes, you could see it without a telescope but it was a nice experience using one.


10 posted on 06/12/2026 4:22:58 PM PDT by DataJunkie
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